ECE News Story

Alumnus Matthew James wins Best SICON Paper Prize

Alumnus Matthew James wins Best SICON Paper Prize

Alumnus Matthew R. James (Math Ph.D. 1988) of the Australian National University has received the 2009 SIAG/CST Best SICON Paper Prize for “An Introduction to Quantum Filtering,” which appeared in SIAM Journal on Control and Optimization (SICON), Vol. 46, No. 6, 2007.

Co-recipients of the prize and co-authors of the paper were Luc Bouten of the California Institute of Technology and Ramon van Handel of Princeton University. The citation reads, “This paper is an in-depth introduction to two of the most important and complex subjects of modern science, nonlinear filtering and quantum mechanics, and it combines mathematical rigor with elegant style.”

James earned his Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics in 1988 as an ISR Fellow advised by Professor John Baras (ECE/ISR). “I am delighted with this prestigious recognition of Matt’s research excellence, especially in these two topics that are so close to my heart, having played an important role in my own research career,” Baras said.

James is currently a professor with the Department of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, Australian National University, Canberra, where he served as Head during 2001 and 2002. He has been an Associate Editor for Automatica, MCSS and SICON. He is a Fellow of IEEE and Engineers Australia (IEAust). Since January 2004 he has held an Australian Research Council (ARC) Professorial Fellowship. He was a member of the ARC's College of Experts in 2005-2006.

The SIAG/CST Best SICON Paper Prize was established by the SIAM Activity Group on Control and Systems Theory (SIAG/CST) in 2007. It is awarded to the author(s) of the two most outstanding papers published in SICON in the two calendar years before the year of the award. The prize was presented at the SIAM Conference on Control and Its Applications (CT09) in Denver, July 6-10, 2009.